I don't know if anyone else has thought of it like this, but I see no possibility for commune/city warfare so long as the enchanting and alchemy limitations are in effect. It's a pain starting trouble with someone when they're your only source of Mercy enchantments/monolith sigils/healing potion. I would propose that the limitations be removed, albeit in some limited fashion... that alchemy be available to all practitioners of Lowmagic, and enchanting be available to practitioners of Highmagic. This would most directly affect Warrior archetypes in both cities and communes, who would have access to two new tradeskills.

This would require some new branch of Enchanting, as commune Warriors cannot take either Rituals or Elementalism for the existing trees (and Guardians might get annoyed at the extra competition for Cosmic enchanting.) The solution to this would be to create a "Basic" enchantment line. This line would include Mercy, Kingdom, and all the other common enchanting skills, plus a number of unique enchantments based off of other Highmagic spheres. This line could either be set as the only option available to Warrior enchanters, and unavailable to all others, or made so that it is available as an option to all Highmagic users, Cosmic enchantment made available to city warriors (so long as they have rituals,) and a Totemic enchantment line opened up to commune warriors (so long as they have Totems.)

I would like to note that my blinding, seething fury over never being able to find an available enchanter when I need one has nothing at all to do with this suggestion.

If one of you enchanter types isn't frothing at the mouth at the mere idea, by the way, could you post up a full list of the enchanting skill tree? I'd like to make a mock-up, and Lusterwiki's kinda gone to hell and stayed there. Have fun blasting this thing.

Alchemy is far more neccessary than enchanting is. We can do without most enchantments, though it would be annoying.

I'd actually really like to see one of the cities get alchemy and one of the communes get enchanting somehow.

I much prefer black markets.

And extremely expensive NPCS.

Problem is, those aren't really "basic", those are some of the highest enchantments in the skillset. Well, kingdom isn't too bad if I remember correctly, but mercy and perfection are quite high. Mercy is the highest one, I think, and requires pretty high highmagic as well.

well, those skills would still be at the same place, at least from my understanding, and somewhat inferior skills would be put in so that the knights can enchant the same number of things. Although I could be wrong.

It sounds like an interesting idea, but in the long run, the communes would be kind of ripped off (inferior enchanting plus the cities getting alchemy at the fullest). Maybe, if this idea were tweaked so that the cities would get alchemy, but a somehow suckier version of it?

Personally, what I would find more interesting would if alchemists could make potions that had similar effects to certain things in enchanting, and enchanting would gain some healing things from alchemy, (and so the communes don't get ripped off) due to the complexity of the enchantments, require a special kind of balance.

One of the problems is that Alchemy is neccessary, most enchants are just luxuries.

you can't give enchantments to Warriors.. well you could, but they would only be able to enchant mercy perfect kingdom and beauty.. they wouldn't have access to anything else.

"Basic" might be the wrong word I'm looking for... I was thinking of a line based entirely off of High Magic abilities, rather than branching into Rituals and Elementalism. Maybe "High Enchanting," then. The point was that it would have Highmagic enchantments unavailable in either Cosmic or Elemental enchanting, like Unseen (Invisibility, a la Yesod,) Hexagram, and maybe even Strongarm (strength boost a la Geburah... woo.)

All I can think of to give commune alchemists is some sort of cleansing potion, and maybe cheaper production costs... doesn't strike me as entirely right to make a faction work with gaping holes in their curative abilities, and alchemy as-is is a complete set.

Estarra has said many, many times the cities are not going to get alchemy, and the communes are not going to get enchanting.


What I'd like to see is Bob selling basic enchanted items. Cleanse, geyser, window, kingdom. Only at half the amount of charges that an enchanter can do.

Ideally, not items. I already have items, even ones with runes on them specifically so I can use them for enchantments. Slips of paper with enchanted runes on them that you could apply to a piece of your jewelry and it'd enchant it with one charge of whatever it is. So maybe you could either buy per-charge or buy one charge and find a cube that an enchanter would've had to charge up to fill it. 75-100 or so per charge, depending what it was? It'd be nice if Bob would have waterwalking, cleanse, levitate, beauty and perfection.


Trader Bob sells:
a potion of mana - 400gp
a regeneration salve - 1700gp
a potion of healing - 400gp
a potion of bromides - 400gp
a mending salve - 500gp
a potion of fire - 500gp
a potion of frost - 1000gp

30 sips, when generally an alchemist-made potion in a vial of 50-60 sips is, what, 500-600 (usually see gems for vials or vials from between 250-300, and keg refills upwards of 200). Someone else do the math and comparisons

alchemists: refill kegs, salt, sulfur, liniment, fire, frost, health, sanguine, bromides, quicksilver, mana, choleric, antidote, mending, phlegmatic, absinthe, magical ink, love, melancholic, regeneration, allheale, vitae

enchanters: refill cubes, enchant paintings, enchant statues, curse equipment, enchant greatrobes, enchant pocketbelts, make sigils (monolith, key, eye, fist, flame) ... ((deathsight, window, waterwalking, fear, enfeebling, enlargement, diminish, web, sleep) or (dig, cleanse, scry, gust, levitate, doorblast, icewall, ignite)), pentagram, void, mercy, perfection, beauty, kingdom

Best solution: if you are enemied to a city/commune, get a friend (IC friend!) to buy things for you instead. Simple. Unless you have no friends... well, too bad for you then!

Or do what I do: "I'm going to bury the herbs over here at ****. Leave some gold in the hole." It's very fun, and finding gold in a hole isn't trading.

Trading with Celest (and Serenwilde, for that matter) or enemies of the Glomdoring is illegal. We do not rationalize. We know the truth of our actions, and we do not do anything that goes against our leaders' wishes.

...often.

Is this the point where I scold you?

Pssh, there's always a black market.

Mwehehe.

You just have to know where to look.

And I like the hole thing! So cute.

Enchantments though, ARE a bit of a pain. I'm a city-dweller and sometimes I have trouble finding an enchanter.

It sort of goes against the story and history of Highmagic and Lowmagic though, doesn't it? Highmagic deals with spiritual and holy concepts where as Lowmagic is of the earth and the basic elements. That is where the split between City and Commune comes in.

Skill lists aren't allowed to be posted on the forums but you'll be happy to find a number of us have repaired the Lusterwiki to a decent state.